Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given New $294.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $275.00 to $294.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

AMGN has been the subject of several other research reports. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $316.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $283.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.78. Amgen has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $170.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts predict that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.